Improvement in railway-chairs



UNITED STATES PATENT FFlCE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAI LWAY CHAB RS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,722, dated September6, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN COOHRANE, of thetownship of Wall, county of Monmouth, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented anew and useful Improvement in Railroad -Joint Chairs orCouplings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon.

Figure l is a side elevation of a joint-chair having thisimprovement; Fig. 2 an end elevalion; Fig. 3, a top view or plan; and Fig. 4,adetachedview of one of the springs in position. The same parts are designated bythe same letters in all the figures.

The-nature of my invention consists in cansing the ends of the rails tobe securely pressed downward by an elastic force against the bed plateof the chair or coupling, so as to prevent looseness at the j0ints ofthe rails and vibra tion of the rails in the chair or coupling by themotion of the wheels of passing trains over them.

For the purposes of this improvementl pre fer to use the wrought-ironchair of H form, in which the middle portion of the plate is turned overfrom each side toward the center,

so as to embrace the flange of the rail, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,A A being the flanges of the chair, in whichare punched the holes forthe spikes or screws by which. to fasten it to the cross-tie; B B, thelips to embrace the flange of the rail; and O G the risers which unitethe lips B B withthe flangeplate A A.

In Figs. 1 and 3 the adjacent ends of two rails are shown in position,I) D being the flange of the rails, E the vertical rib, and G the head.

Between the lips B B of the chair and the flanges D Dot therails I placethe springsK K, as shown e'dgewise in Fig. 1 and flatwise in Fig. 3. Itis made with slight curve lengthwise, and is piaced in the chair withthe concave side down, as shown in Figs. 1 and i, thus causing the endsof the springs to bear upon the flanges of the rails, while the convexor back partol the spring bears upward against the lips 13 of the chair.These springs should also be so formed as to bear upon the flange oi therail at their middle part, as shown at in, Fig. 4, to prevent the risingof the ends of the rails under the spring, which might possibly occur ifnot thus prevented. The springs should also be provided with some meansfor retaining them in place longitudinally. For

,this purpose a small rib, 'n, is formed at each side of the lip B,(Figs. 1 and 3,) or the spring may be made with a sharp bend at each ofsaid places, so as to answer this purpose, as shown at n, Fig. 4, orthey may be secured in any other convenient manner. These springs shouldbe made of steel and be properly tempered and have sufficient elasticitytocoinpensate, under all circumstances, for wear and strain, and to havesufficient stiffness to hold the rail firmly down upon the chair againstthe disturbing action of passing trains.

The destruction of theends of railroad-bars by abrasion is a sourceotgreat expense to railway companies, not only'from the actual cost ofrepairing or renewing such rails, but in consequence, also, of the verygreat injury to the rolling-stock ot' the road, from the almostinnumerable concussions transmitted by such defective joints to thewheels and axles ofthe cars and machinery of the locomotives, Inaddition to which, the constant jarring and noiseresulting from suchconcussionsareamost objectionable annoyance to passengers; and thisjarring ofthe cars is well known to be particularly injurious to livestock. Numerous plans have accordingly been devised for so forming thejoints of the rails as to prevent this abrasion of the ends; but allsuch plans, thus far, have utterly failed in practice, merely answeringa useful purpose as long as the parts of such joints continued to fiteach other with accuracy, and which, at best, has only been for .a shorttime: The heavy gri1iding,tremulons motion occasioned by therapidly-passing trains, together with the dust and sand so plentit'ullysupplied by the road-bed, soon causes all such fitting to become looseand out of shape, thereby permitting the ends of the rails to vibratevertically under the passing wheels, alternately impinging the wheels orbeing impinged by them; and when it is considered that the weight oneach wheel is about three thousand live hundred pounds, and its velocityfrom thirty to fifty feet per second, it will readily be perceived thatall rail-joints in which there are no self-operating means forcompensating for wear must quickly become loose, and, also, that anydegree of looseness in the joints must ilead to their rapid destruc- 'inthe chair thereby preserving the joints and ends of the rails in shape,and the unity of the whole series of bars as a single rail.

In this description I have referred to my improvement as embodied in ajoint-chair,

and have described and figured the said chair with flanges by which tofasten it to thecrossties, as that mode of construction is in verygeneral use; but some engineers prefer to place the joint-couplingbetween the cross-ties, in which case flanges are unnecessary and may bedispensed-with; and. in such case, also, the spring or springs may beplaced below the rail, or between the flanges of the 'rails and thebottom of the coupling, and the same result be attained .as hereinshown,- where the spring. was applied between the top of theflange andthe lip of the chair.

' I do not therefore limit myself =to any pare similar location or formof the chair or joint ooupling,-bnttclaiin the right to adopt any formand place of application that will enable me to employ the principle ofmy invention to the best advantage, or according to the peculiar viewsof the parties requiring it.

It is not pretended that this method of combining the rails of arailroad into a continuous bar will make bad mails equal to good onesbut it is claimed for this improvement that it will relieve the track ofa railroad from. the various evils that result from loose joints, as

herein explained, and thus materially diminish the cost ofkeepiug up therepairs of the rails and rolling-stock of a railroad.

Having thus described the nature,constrnction, and operation of myimprovements in railroad-joint chairs or couplings, what Iclaim thereinas my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- Thecombination of a spring or springs with the rails and chair or coupling,so as to prevent looseness of the joints, substantially as hereindescribed.

JOHN OOGHRANE. v

Witnesses:

' ANDREW I. TODD,

AtB. MALCOMSON, Jr.

